Trinity - a different perspective

 The Trinity is a dogma that is forged in the fires of controversy. It is not formulated in language that is consistent with the modern world and is an examination of or rather an attempt at explaining something in a language that is redolent of medieval world views and Greek philosophy. Yet it is a founding principle upon which the Christian faith stands which has not been changed nor truly examined other than to try and explain it in modernistic terms. Perhaps that is too unkind, yet if we think about the theological investigations and verbiage around the topic most of it is constrained by the very thought of what is being discussed, the Trinitarian formulation, and not by going back to first principles. It has perhaps become a silo within which the Christian faith survives but also prevents that same faith from thriving within a more natural state.

The concept of a Trinity is a hard concept for other monotheistic religions to conceive and thus they turn round to suggest that it is not one God but three that are worshipped. In some respects this is not particularly surprising when you see different styles of worship and theology displayed by the Christian faith. For some there is an emphasis on the patrilineal Father figure; for others there is an emphasis on Jesus, not Christ, but Jesus so that they become almost Jesusians as opposed to Christians. Of course we must not neglect the Spirit and so for others the Spirit is dominant. If we begin to put all of these together we may be able to retrieve the original thought of Trinity. It is truly pointless struggling with analogies to attempt an explanation so let's delve into mathematics not as an analogy but rather to see the truth behind one God. For in truth one cannot stand on its own mathematically but rather must be one of several others and is thus only one when in relation with another. This can be seen when we truly relate to the interlinkage between three or more.

Is Trinity only singularity?

If, we look carefully at our Hebraic roots buried in the Bible we can see that there is a discrepancy regarding singularity of worship of a sole God. Rather, it is a God that is worshipped over other Gods that is accepted and promoted, whilst acknowledging the presence of other Gods (Ps. 82). Strict monotheism becomes a feature of the faith journey only after the exilic period. Our inheritance of which moves towards the strict dichotism we have in the modern era that it has to be the right or the left, Good or Evil, etc.  This leaves no space for both / and. Early Christian life was filled with difference in understanding prior to the imposition of ordered thought. In grappling with this early difference in God - thinking, Tertullian and others out of Africa formulated our Trinitarian aspected God-talk, which has perhaps ultimately limited our growth into and understanding of God for whose likeness we were given in creation. An understanding which some suggest has been uplifted from the sagacity of African thought in the communal spaces of I am because you are and you are because I am. This is the language of many Indigenous groups throughout the world suggesting a relationship between the community and the individual. So can we retain an understanding of God that is uniquely part of us (God Immanuel) (Rom 8.12-17) and yet is so far beyond our understanding that we struggle to define and describe. Did the originators of the formulation believe it would be the only means of God-talk or did they expect it to evolve as our thought and world views evolved?

In this world we are surrounded by networks of relational activity that connect us to the past, present and future of those close and far away. We do not live in singularity but in multiplicity. God's presence springs up not in familial lineage down the years but more like an out of control rhizome of connectivity that springs up where the gardener (our dogma, formulas and neat garden solutions) least expects. Setting our thoughts, bodies and communities afire with difference and change that inspires. Others suggest that we begin to re-read our faith journey and re-interpret our understandings on the backs of twisting elastic threads, not singularities of particulate material, that cause paradoxical jumps and communications across vast unsupported space. A more elastic understanding that inhabits God's freedom in the world not containing but releasing and opening our hearts to those around us.